'Get Britain Out!' - latest issue

Dear Edmond Morrison, With Parliament in recess and many people on holiday, August is traditionally a quiet month - the fabled 'silly season' when newspapers resort to trivial and bizarre stories to fill their pages. Not this year!   Our EU Membership Fee Soars The month opened with the news that both our gross contribution to the EU (all the money we give) and our net contribution (the gross figure, minus the money we get back) have soared to new highs. The figures bust the myth that grants and subsidies we receive from the EU are a benefit of membership, with the Daily Mail prominently featuring our quote that "for every pound we receive from Brussels, we’ve first had to give them more than two". Our net contribution alone increased by £1.4bn, and our quote that this was "another 1.4bn reasons to leave the EU" was used by the Daily Express for their headline, with a further quote from Get Britain Out in their leader column.   EU Citizen From Cradle To Grave This was followed by the news of a plan to create standardised EU versions of official documents such as birth, marriage, civil partnership and death certificates. Alan Murad was quoted in the Express and I was invited to comment on BBC Radio Wales when they discussed the proposals earlier this week. It has the all the hallmarks of a typical Brussels manoeuvre; first something is proposed as a voluntary measure, supposedly to make life a bit easier, then a few years later it becomes a compulsory standard. The EU keeps on trying to brand us all as European citizens, but as every poll shows, the people of Europe identify not with the EU but with their own country. Vive la différence!   Get Britain Out also had an article published online in The Commentator on how the arguments relied upon by fans of the EU 'project' are rapidly losing currency in the face of public and business dissatisfaction with the EU and increasing awareness of its inevitable declining significance in the world economy.   EU Immigration Back In The News Finally, the last few days have seen more stories on EU migration. First there was Chris Bryant's speech in which he tried to blame companies for employing the cheap Eastern European labour his party did everything to encourage. This was followed by the news that increasing numbers of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants are coming into the UK, even before the 'transitional controls' end. Lastly, the Government has been spinning a story that that migrants' eligibility for benefits will form a key part of David Cameron's proposed renegotiation. Of course, as we pointed out when interviewed on London talk radio station LBC this morning, unless we leave the EU, the best we can hope for are some minor tweaks to the rules.   Britain's immigration policy is often described as an open door; the EU is the wedge that holds it open. If we want to protect our already stretched welfare system from the successive influxes of migrants permitted by successive governments, there is only one thing to do: Get Britain Out. Kind regards, James Harvard Campaign Manager, Get Britain Out

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I am printing out the latest newsletter from the GET BRITAIN OUT CAMPAIGN
I do not support their backing of the false flag party UKIP but there are a lot of hard facts here with reference to the call for a referendum and the twists and turns of Cameron to ensure we either get the wrong sort of referendum or more likely
- NO referendum at all!

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As you will have seen from our last bulletin, Tim Aker has moved on to a new role - he’s now Head of UKIP's Policy Unit.  I am delighted to have joined the team as Get Britain Out's Campaign Manager, with Alan Murad as Deputy Campaign Manager and we look forward to building on Tim's excellent work. The tide has definitely turned in our favour over recent months, but there is still a long way to go before we can all boast "We helped Get Britain Out".

I know that many in our movement still worry about the underhand tactics Europhiles might use in a referendum, but here at GBO we are in no doubt that an In/Out EU Referendum remains the best and quickest hope for an exit from the EU. Just over a week ago a small but important step towards that referendum was taken in Parliament as James Wharton's Private Member's Bill passed its Second Reading.

Sadly, what should have been a good day for democracy was marred by the Lib Dems and most Labour MPs boycotting the vote, a move which, as Alan noted in his article for The Commentator on the potential significance of the Bill, is an insult to ordinary voters. However six Labour MPs deserve an honourable mention for defying Ed Miliband's instruction to abstain and voting to support the bill. They were: Roger Godsiff, Kate Hoey, Kelvin Hopkins, Dennis Skinner, Graham Stringer and Gisela Stuart. We hope that more still will come out in support when the votes are closer.

Remarkably, not a single MP was prepared to be seen voting against the Bill, meaning the vote was won by 304 votes to nil. However 30 MPs did earlier vote against closing the debate, in the hope that the Bill could be 'talked out' (i.e. the Bill would be lost because the debate exhausted the allotted time without the required vote on its Second Reading taking place). Next week we will be naming those 30 MPs. We think that come the next election voters will be very interested to learn which of their MPs tried to block the Great British Public having their say.

If the EU Referendum Bill does pass into law, it may not guarantee a referendum, but for one NOT to take place the next government would have to repeal the Bill and risk suffering considerable political damage in the process. Get Britain Out will be following the process very closely, and will be cooperating with other anti-EU groups to bring you the latest news and to let you know when and how you can lobby your MP to make sure we get our In/Out referendum.

On Tuesday this week came some mixed news. In a statement to the House of Commons, Home Secretary Theresa May announced that the Government is to opt-out from 133 Justice and House Affairs measures, including the deeply illiberal European Arrest Warrant (EAW). So far so good, but depressingly the Government is planning to opt straight back in to many of those measures, including the EAW, that they claim it is in the national interest to remain a part of. We disagree, and this is an issue we will be exploring more fully in future bulletins.

Parliament will have the chance to debate this topic over the next few months, including a vote tomorrow (Monday), and Get Britain Out will give our full support to the many decent MPs who will be fighting the Government's plans to opt back in. We could see another huge Commons rebellion and, although the measure will probably go through with Labour's support, David Cameron is likely to come away with yet another bloody nose.

Finally, we can tell you that Tuesday evening will see the launch of an extremely important initiative that will help to build the intellectual case to Get Britain Out. We can't reveal the details yet, but please follow us on Twitter and Facebook for further updates on the night!

Finally, Get Britain Out was quoted in yesterday's Daily Express article on the European Parliament's demand for £48.5 million more for their already bloated budget. Is there no limit to their appetite for our money?

With my best wishes,

James Harvard
Campaign Manager, Get Britain Out

"Get Britain Out" monthly email

Although only a one platform pressure group the work they are doing on getting us out of the EU is to be commended.....I reprint it as requested by them (spread to everyone) below...

Dear Friends and Supporters,
I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and update you on what our campaign has been doing recently.
My article for The Commentator exposed the brutal new EU animal testing rules that came into force on 1^st January. This legislation allows all sorts disturbing activities to take place including the beheading of birds, the bludgeoning of puppies and kittens and animal testing on stray pets – which could in fact be your own pets at some time in the future. Please share the article and forward this email to your friends and contacts. The EU clearly does not care about the rights of animals, who cannot speak up for themselves. It is crucial the public understands the EU has increased its legislation on the testing of more ingredients in foods, chemicals, herbal medicines, cosmetics and perfumes meaning more and more animals have to be used and abused in this way.
Last week in The Sun we exposed the shameless pro-EU propaganda now circulating in our schools. As well as the obvious moral dubiousness of distributing misleading and biased pro-Euro political propaganda to our children, this also gives an insight into the warped perspective of the Eurocrats. If the average Greek or Spaniard was asked to describe the results of the Euro project, then it seems somewhat unlikely they would use phrases like “better performing economies” and “sounder public finances”. 
On Wednesday I appeared on the Finnish TV station YLE to talk about why we need to Get Britain Out of the EU. Our efforts are now being recognised internationally. You can watch the interview by clicking here, scroll forward to 16.43 to see their feature on the EU and my interview.
We have been quoted in The Daily Express on the subject of David Cameron’s continued and deliberate referendum ambiguity. From leaks to the press we understand David Cameron will give his long-awaited EU speech on 22^nd January in the Netherlands. The Spectator suggests the Prime Minister will only commit to renegotiation after the 2015 general election and will put “renegotiated” terms to a referendum in 2018. Nick Clegg was even quoted in the Daily Mail today saying that as a Dutch speaker he will be there to “give a translation – from double Dutch to just Dutch”!
Time is running out and a vote in 2018 is unacceptable. Article 16 of the Fiscal Union Treaty incorporates fiscal union into EU law by 2017. We are bound by EU law and will find ourselves in fiscal union as a consequence.
Renegotiation therefore is simply impossible. Only this week, on a visit to London, Gunther Krichbaum, the chairman of Germany’s European affairs committee said, “Britain risks being ‘isolated’ and leaving the EU would weaken its position in the world. You cannot create a political future if you are blackmailing other states.” He also suggested any efforts by Mr Cameron to renegotiate our relationship would be blocked to stop other EU member states making their own demands.
So who is “blackmailing” who? We are a strong country, we produce excellent goods and we can trade throughout the world. The EU’s laws, regulations and Directives are holding us back and forcing small businesses to adhere to irrelevant EU rules.
We demand an In/Out EU referendum before the next election – before it is too late for the UK.Get Britain Out will carry on doing our best to make sure this happens by keeping up the pressure on our politicians, and never allowing them to forget the Great British Public want their country back.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Best wishes,
Tim Aker
Campaign Manager